Telephone lines, which are carried by electrical conductors known as tip ring wire pairs, are generally aggregated at a particular point in a building prior to being distributed and connected to various types of telephone equipment, such as, for example, telephones, fax machines, modems etc. As the tip ring pairs generally enter the building as part of a multi-conductor cable, the individual tip ring wire pairs must first be broken out from the cable into individual wire pairs. This is normally accomplished in a junction box such as, for example, a building entrance protector (BEP), or network interface unit (NIU). Within such devices the individual telephone line tip ring pairs are separated from the cable, individually connected to a connector block, and made available for further electrical connection and distribution. Usually there is a protector device inserted between the telephone and central office, or network side of the telephone line and the customer equipment or terminal side of the telephone line to protect the telephone and user, or other equipment connected to the telephone line, from hazardous overvoltages induced in the telephone network or in the cables passing between the telephone central office and the building within which the line is terminated.
In a typical arrangement, the telephone lines coming from the network are first wired to a protector field, which is an array of connectors for receiving the protector device, which is in turn hard wired to a first connector block which provides a first test point for testing the telephone line connections between the building and telephone central office. This first terminal block may be hard wired to a multi pair connector, most typically a twenty-five pair connector of the RJ21 type, for further connection to, for example, an array of customer bridges which are also hard wired and connectorized via a mating RJ21 connector. The use of a customer bridge permits a subscriber to disconnect terminal equipment from a telephone line so that subscriber can isolate troubles on the line as originating in the telephone network, or on the terminal equipment side of the telephone line.
Additionally, there are known insulation displacement connector (IDC) blocks for use in such junction boxes and/or distribution fields, such as the ubiquitous punch down connector block, also known as a 66-type connector block, and the tool-less insulation displacement connector bocks utilizing push cap connectors, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,659 dated Apr. 3, 1990, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such a tool-less connector block is com merci ally available under the product designation SC99 from Lucent Technologies inc.
Generally, a 66-type connector block has one or more rows of two connectors dedicated to each tip or ring wire from the telephone central office. Each of these connectors can be electrically hard wired to provide telephone service to a different end user. The incoming tip or ring wire can be selectively routed to provide service to a different end user by connecting it to a specific connector. Generally, the connectors on a 66-type connector block comprise a terminal strip with an insulation displacement connector (IDC) at one end which receives the tip or ring wire from the telephone central office, usually through a protector field known in the art. Thus, a row of two adjacent connectors may be configured for the hard wired attachment of a tip or ring wire to the first connector in a row, with the second connector hard wired to an RJ21-type connector mounted near the connector block. To connect the first connector to the second, a bridging clip, known in the art, is used to connect the connectors at the IDC ends. If it is desired to connect the first connector elsewhere, the bridging clip is removed, and a wire is punched down on the IDC end of the first connector and routed to its desired endpoint, generally an alternate connector on the connector block, where it is punched down once more. This is an extremely labor-intensive operation which must be performed every time the desired output connector is changed. Moreover, where tool-less IDCs are utilized, such as, for example, the SC 99 tool-less IDC connector block sold by Lucent Technologies Inc., multiple wire connections must be made to alternately route wires from the SC 99 to other connectors or endpoints.
Additionally, as known in the art, in the 99-type connector block, a cap covers each terminal strip and holds the wire in position. The tip and ring wires held within such tool-less IDC connectors are strain relieved only to the extent held by the compressive force exerted by the IDC terminal holding the bare wire which has been stripped of its insulation layer. While this prior art IDC works for its intended purpose, a significant drawback to this prior art IDC is that pulling on the wire, intentional or otherwise, can cause the cap to be dislodged from the terminal strip thereby breaking the connection. Thus, it is desirable to provide for an easier switching mechanism between output connectors on a tool-less IDC connector block without having to perform any actual wiring operations and a switching mechanism that will better resist dislodging caused by any pulling on a wire connected thereto.